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“Bossman,” she whispered, and the entire room erupted in laughter. Gracie was crazy for that store. It was where I took her whenever we had a little date day, and we’d go pick out some stickers or a little treat.
“It’s her favorite store,” I said.
She pulled out what looked like a gift certificate, which made me laugh, because I couldn’t even imagine Maddox inside that cute little store. She studied it for a minute before throwing her little body into his arms and wrapping her chubby little hands around his neck again.
“What is it?” Cage asked.
Gracie pulled back and looked at it again. “I don’t know, but it’s from my Bossman.”
My sister, Brinkley, glanced over at me and waggled her brows. Everyone was smitten with the tall drink of water who’d just walked in unexpectedly, including my niece.
“Let me see, baby girl,” Cage said, leaning down and taking it from her hand. “Oh, wow. A tea party for eight.”
Gracie started jumping up and down and cheering.
“That was really kind of you,” Cage said as he clapped Maddox on the back when he pushed to stand again.
“Glad you like it. Merry Christmas. I need to head out before my grandmother calls again to make sure I’m on my way.” He looked over at me, the only one not holding a package, as everyone else tore into their bags and thanked him.
In typical Reynolds fashion, there were endless hugs and gushing, and it took everything in me not to laugh because he looked so uncomfortable as he wasn’t a big hugger. But I could tell he liked it because the corners of his lips turned up each time someone approached him.
I grabbed my car keys from my purse. “I’ll walk you out.”
We made our way through the house and paused in the entryway so I could grab my coat and put it on.
“You don’t need to walk me outside,” he said, reaching into his coat pocket for a small blue box.
Tiffany blue.
“I have a gift for you in my car, but with everything that happened yesterday, I never got to give it to you.”
“I was an asshole, and I’m sorry. I had something for you, as well, and I didn’t want to leave town without giving it to you.” He held out the box, and my heart raced so fast I was certain it would explode from my chest.
I took off the white satin bow and lifted the lid, staring down with absolute surprise at the stunning diamond star on a gold chain.
He cleared his throat. “I’m not much of a shopper, as you know from doing all my holiday shopping for me. But you said gifts should be something the other person would like. I saw this, and it reminded me of you. Thanks for showing me that I can sit under the stars again.”
My vision blurred as my eyes were wet with emotion, and I pulled the necklace out and studied it. “It’s stunning.”
“Yeah? So are you, Tink. I’m sorry for the things that I said to you last night. They were inappropriate.”
“I didn’t mind it.” I waggled my brows. “I think about it, too, you know?”
He moved closer. “What do you think about?”
“Us.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face as if he didn’t know how to respond. I handed him the necklace and turned around, lifting my hair for him to help me put it on.
His fingers grazed the sensitive skin behind my neck, and I wished we could freeze this moment right here.
“There you go,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly.
I turned around and walked to the mirror hanging above the entry table by the front door and admired it.
“I love it. Thank you. Come on, I want to give you your gift.”
He moved closer to me, tracing his fingers over the pendant resting between my collarbones, before finding my zipper and pulling it up just below my chin.
